Quantum tunneling allows particles to pass through barriers
University of Innsbruck / Harald Ritsch
Collisions between hydrogen molecules and deuterium charged atoms can exchange protons through a quantum process called tunneling, which happens only once in 10 billion collisions.
Quantum tunneling is the bizarre effect of electron-like particles passing through barriers in nanosized devices or protons moving between molecules. The latter is important for chemistry, allowing tunneling protons to change the structure of molecules even when there is not enough energy for conventional reactions…
